I don't think Glenn, Perry, Barron, Ingram, Hightower or Konz will be there for us. Everything I've read about Barron suggests he's going Top 20, with Top 15 a possibility. Perry might make it down to us, but everyone always needs pass rushers and he's the most rawly athletic one in the class. Konz will go to GB at 28, and Ingram might go Top 10 when it's all said and done (Same with Cordy Glenn). Hightower I expect will be gone between 22-28 as well.

That said, I'd be very happy with Courtney Upshaw or Alshon Jeffery. Kendricks would be a huge reach in the first, and I'm not entirely sold on Mercilus in any scheme, least of all a 3-4.

I think there's a pretty legitimate chance we end up with Jonathon Martin. It would piss me off to no end, but it's one of the few picks where perceived value matches our need.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Goosemahn

The APS is strong in this one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by killxswitch

Tears for Fears is better than whatever it is you happen to be thinking about right now.

I would almost guarantee Mercilus won't be the Ravens 1st round pick. Way too much of a one-year wonder type of guy. Doesn't mean he won't be good, but I really can't think of anybody the Ravens have taken with a high pick that fits in that kind of category.

If we draft Upshaw I think his character issues will be fine. I trust that Alabama will give Ozzie an honest review on his character. especially because Newsome will probably be their boss within the next 5 years

The reports on his character are coming back quite poorly. Nick Saban raves about him, but almost every single thing I've read about his character in the pre-draft process has been negative.

Upshaw's probably about as much as I could ask for based on the way this offseason has gone, but he's dropping right now for whatever reason. You've gotta show some concern there.

Unless the author of that article is blatantly lying, I don't see how Upshaw could have worrisome character concerns.

His drop has had to do with his pedestrian workout times. Two reasons I'm not so concerned about that 1) He gained 10-15 pounds after the season and I don't think he had built up his speed or he just can't play at close to 280 and 2) He's fast on film, good in lateral pursuit, and dominated the SEC

Unless the author of that article is blatantly lying, I don't see how Upshaw could have worrisome character concerns.

His drop has had to do with his pedestrian workout times. Two reasons I'm not so concerned about that 1) He gained 10-15 pounds after the season and I don't think he had built up his speed or he just can't play at close to 280 and 2) He's fast on film, good in lateral pursuit, and dominated the SEC

Well there's been significant concern voiced over Upshaw's intelligence, and apparently he's got some anger issues to work on off the football field. There's more in the draft section, but apparently some teams no longer have him in the first round based on character issues, not athletic concerns.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Goosemahn

The APS is strong in this one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by killxswitch

Tears for Fears is better than whatever it is you happen to be thinking about right now.

With the 29th pick the Baltimore Ravens select......STEPHEN HILL WR, GA TECH! But no it will be a boring pick, nothing exciting like Peter Konz or some other OLman whose talent could be equalled by someone we could get in later rounds :(

__________________HALL OF FAMER!PUT ART MODELL IN THE HALL OF FAME!JUSTIN BLACKMON IS A GOLDEN GOD!

With the 29th pick the Baltimore Ravens select......STEPHEN HILL WR, GA TECH! But no it will be a boring pick, nothing exciting like Peter Konz or some other OLman whose talent could be equalled by someone we could get in later rounds :(

Konz is a very likely pick, I'd be prepared for that to be the selection if I were you.

I also think that, depending on the board, there's a very good chance we move down. Ozzie loves mid round picks (He doesn't hit on nearly as many as he used to, but he still loves them) and the perceived value at our pick matches up fairly poorly with our needs.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Goosemahn

The APS is strong in this one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by killxswitch

Tears for Fears is better than whatever it is you happen to be thinking about right now.

What would yall think about John Jenkins (UGA - NT)? Terrence Cody really played poorly and Kemo is a stopgap. I was not pleased with his (or any UGA defensive player's) performance against Alabama in the SEC Championship, but I believe he has the tools to be an upper tier nose with proper coaching. By the way, does anyone know what Kelly Gregg is up to these days? He would be a stud coach for the interior linemen.

We were gutted up the middle this year and it was very upsetting to watch. I had gotten so used to defensive battles through the years where every yard gained hurt me personally. There were many yards gained this year and the D looked like it lost its stoutness. McPhee & Jones are a solid tandem on the outside opposite Haloti (who needs to get healthy and play up to his contract), but inside our defense badly needs a Hampton, Wilfork, Jamal Williams type. Anyone else notice Ray taking on guards most of the playoff run? I know we could use a new ILB and pass rusher (Kruger is gone but I'm holding out hope for Ellerbe) and possibly safety (if Joe's ego takes up contract space for Ed I will be livid), but I think we need to get back to what we do best on D and that is stopping the run.

Other guys I like in our range - Desmond Trufant, Kevin Minter, John Hankins, Eric Reid, Sam Montgomery, Tavon Austin, Keenan Allen, Robert Woods, Arthur Brown. For a team that just won the Superbowl, we sure do have a lot of spots we could need to replace/upgrade.

I've been saying all along that they need a NT. Cody doesn't cut it in any way. He can't get by on being the biggest guy now he's playing better athletes so he has to learn better leverage and get stronger, but he isn't doing the job we need him for. Depending on the board, I'm okay with a NT in the first few rounds, or if they can get Knighton cheap...

I'm on those who haven't given up on Cody. The role he had to take this year doesn't suit his strengths and in my mind, its a question whether we fit the system to the player or the other way around. In some way I see the same issue with Cody as with Kruger in his first years. We asked Kruger to do something different each year til we finally played him to his strengths and imo we should do the same with Cody before we give up on him.

With that said, I'm a firm believer in our draft approach so whether we go for a NT or WR or anything else besides QB and kicker, I'd be okay with it.

As others have mentioned, I wouldn't be surprised to see us trade down yet again.

I'm on those who haven't given up on Cody. The role he had to take this year doesn't suit his strengths and in my mind, its a question whether we fit the system to the player or the other way around. .

But what is different from your system and Alabama's? I know they aren't the exact same D but there really isn't that much of a contrast. Seems odd to me that he isn't panning out because I thought the pick was a great one at the time. Though the fact that he gets pushed off the ball in run situations is concerning because you would have at least thought he'd excell there.

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Originally Posted by Scott Wright

I guarantee that if someone picks Cam Newton in the Top 5 they will regret it.

But what is different from your system and Alabama's? I know they aren't the exact same D but there really isn't that much of a contrast. Seems odd to me that he isn't panning out because I thought the pick was a great one at the time. Though the fact that he gets pushed off the ball in run situations is concerning because you would have at least thought he'd excell there.

I can't say I'm too familiar with Alabama's system but under Pees the NTs were relied on more to get off their blocks instead of just taking up blockers. Obviously that's something you want defensive lineman to be able to do regardless but under Pagano last year Cody was pretty much just a guy that took up blockers and he did it fairly well. The rest of the front seven was also really productive and looked a lot better than it did this year.

The only thing that changed was losing Redding and McKinney and that shouldn't have made that big of a difference. Cody lost some weight this last offseason and it looks like he didn't add any strength to make up for it so that didn't help either. I don't think that the Ravens should look for a NT high in the draft with the other needs they have. A pass-rusher, ILB, LT, and possibly FS all have bigger holes than NT. I'd rather gamble on Cody returning to 2011-2012 form (with what should hopefully be a productive offseason) than ignore/wait on the other needs.

I'd be in for a NT and would be pleased with John Jenkins at 32. Cody just isn't getting it done so sign me up.

Say no to John Jenkins. Although I don't think Cody is the answer, Jenkins is not good. Wears out quickly and plays soft far too often.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan#7

I'm on those who haven't given up on Cody. The role he had to take this year doesn't suit his strengths

And what are his strengths? Honestly I'm at bit of a loss. His best asset was his size and now he has less of that. I don't hate the guy and I'm not saying he's a horrible player but there's nothing about his game that I can really point to as something he does particularly well.

Among players who I've seen being being mocked to us, along with John Jenkins and probably ahead of him on the 'Do Not Want List' would be Sam Montgomery. Never understood the hype dating back to 2011. Stiff player who only plays in straight lines, he doesn't bend well, oddly bad at timing the snap count and is almost always the last one getting off the ball, and doesn't really have any real effective go-to moves. Not to mention he was on the infamous LSU Players Who Make Excuses list. I don't see his upside as a pass rusher. I'm not sure I'd want him if he was there at 64 let alone 32.

Say no to John Jenkins. Although I don't think Cody is the answer, Jenkins is not good. Wears out quickly and plays soft far too often.

And what are his strengths? Honestly I'm at bit of a loss. His best asset was his size and now he has less of that. I don't hate the guy and I'm not saying he's a horrible player but there's nothing about his game that I can really point to as something he does particularly well.

Cody's strength is to occupy two blockers in the run game from the NT-position. Basically he did a good job being an anchor in the middle that couldn't be moved backwards which gave the rest of our defense less players to deal with. He didn't offer much, if nothing to the pass rush, but that is not why we drafted him.

This year he was told to shoot the gap, which gave olines much easier blocks, as they could block and move him sideways instead of head on. Cody is neither athletic or fast enough to move forward, but he can be a great although one-dimensional anchor/spaceeater in the middle of the defense.

Someone mentioned Kelly Gregg. I don't know what happened to him, but I could see him as someone we could use as an assistant. He was never a physical specimen, overly athletic or very gifted in any way, but he combined his physique with his technique the best way possible and was one of the most dominant NT/DT's in the league in any scheme. I'd wish we could tap into some of the things that made him such a good player.

What does everybody's ILB rankings look like at this point? Right now I've done more thorough research on Te'o, Brown, Minter, Ogletree, and Greene and out of those five I'd rank them in this order:

1. Minter
2. Brown
3. Te'o
4. Greene
5. Ogletree

I really like Minter. There isn't anything he really can't do. He doesn't have the range of Brown, Greene, or Ogletree but it's still pretty good for a ILB and he looks pretty fluid dropping back too. I'm still high on Brown too but I like Minter's overall package more. Te'o is good too but I think he's going to struggle in space at the next level.

Greene is just a step below the top three. Ogletree gets a lot of hype for being a former safety but the same goes for Greene and he actually looks like he can play in the middle, at least as a WILB. Ogletree has his good points but I see him as a pure WLB that you don't want sorting through the interior at all.